Steel-High football coach Rob Deibler is 'angry' about losing pay and is talking to other schools

View full sizeCHRIS KNIGHT, The Patriot-NewsSteel-High head coach Rob Deibler, on the sidelines against Camp Hill, during second half action at War Veterans Memorial Field.Give Rob Deibler credit.

For the first time in three years, Steelton-Highspire is not playing in the PIAA football championships, but Deibler has still managed to become news in the season’s final weekend.

Deibler, whose teams have won two PIAA Class A titles and seven 3-A championships in his 11 years as Steel-High’s head coach, is “pissed, upset, angry, whatever word you want to use.”

Well, that about covers it.

The reason for Deibler’s anger is simple: At a recent meeting, the Steel-High school board voted 7-2 to eliminate Deibler’s pay ($2,800 annually) for his position as the school’s weight room coordinator.

“It feels like a slap in the face,” Deibler said Wednesday night. “Some people say that amount of money might not be a big deal, but I use half of that money to buy my son Christmas presents and the other half for summer vacation.

“To take money away from my family ... I mean, are you kidding me?” Deibler said.

Apparently, the Steel-High board is not kidding. Like many districts, Steel-High is faced with difficult financial decisions, and slicing three grand here and two grand there is preferable to raising taxes on a tapped-out constituency.

But Deibler looks at it another way.

“My staff and I have put a lot into that program and into that school,” he said. “In [11] years, we’ve had just three coaching changes, which is amazing. It’s because our coaches are dedicated to working with those kids, and not just on football.

“The coaches and I have never been paid extra for our playoff games — and we’ve played 38 playoff games — so I look at this as a pay cut,” Deibler said. “I keep hearing from people at Steel-High that it’s not personal, it’s not personal. Well, it’s personal to me.”

Other midstate schools — but not all — compensate their coaches for their time in the postseason.

But Steel-High does not.

And the resulting rumors are absolutely true: Deibler is looking around at other schools.

“They’re calling and I’m talking,” Deibler said. “I don’t want to leave — this is my hometown — but I have to see what’s available.”

What’s available, among other jobs, is the open head coaching position at CD East. In the past week, there has been plenty of Internet and street chatter that Deibler is close to landing that job.

Deibler acknowledged that he has talked with representatives at East, but would not confirm any further details. He said he has been contacted by other schools, but would not reveal their identities.

“I’ll see what they have to say,” Deibler said. “I thought I’d have Steel-High trust forever, but it’s obvious now that I don’t.”

OK, we don’t know everything that goes on behind the scenes at Steel-High, but strictly in a football sense, the folks on the board must have Cottage Hill dust in their eyes.

In the 11 years Deibler has been running the show, the Rollers have won 107 games and lost 33. No midstate coach has ever reached 100 wins faster than Deibs. No midstate coach has won multiple state championships. And no Steel-High head coach has had a longer tenure.

“This should be a place someone coaches for 20 years,” Deibler said. “But there’s always something going on. I love the teachers and the administrators and the kids at Steel-High. But it’s the board. That’s where the problem is.”

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